Listen
by J CAE
Summary: Post Act 3. After the battle, Thrall thought everything would be back to normal. But soon, he figured he had to kill every Proudmoore in order to secure his people.
1. Farewell of Admiral Proudmoore

**LISTEN****- ****by J Cae******

**Spoiler**: TFT Orc Campaign Act II & III

**Note**: Finished Act II & III in one night, and I was like 'Nooooo!'. This couldn't have been what I was waiting for for so long! Don't we just get tired of not being able to walk in straight lines and have to go halfway across the country while those creeps keep jumping on us like we're really important? No TxJ?!! No Illidan comeback? And no explanation to why the Naga were still in Kalimdor? Well, IMO this sure isn't Blizz's best. But here's an idea on how Act IV might turn out if there ever would be one, which I doubt so because they never announced it. I know I didn't follow the exact dialogues, cuz I don't want to. Hope you like it anyway. 

**Disclaimer**: I've said this many times before, but Warcraft still doesn't belong to me, and I still don't earn a cent for writing these fanfics. Whenever I tell people I write fanfics, they ask me if I get paid. Surely I'd have a lot more fanfics here if I do get paid. BTW, Railen is an original character but he won't be the only one. 

**Part I: Sorceress**

**Prologue: Farewell of Admiral Proudmoore [Act III]**

The yellow fire burnt low in the hearth. Its sickly light flickered off the deep crimson velvet tapestries that hung from the ceiling of the admiral's chamber, throwing strange shadows against the grey brick walls. A dark mist of uncertainty shrouded the room--there suspended a trinket of fear.

Huddled in his dark green cloak, Daelin Proudmoore hunched over the paperwork spread over his desk. The orcs had allied themselves with the trolls, the tauren and the ogres--they had made their move and attacked the human bastion upon the Isle of Theramore. For their foul deeds, they must pay with their blood, and therefore, Daelin knew he must have them eliminated, down to the very last warrior.

_'Three hundred fifty foot soldiers, two hundred knights...'_

He dipped his quill pen into ink and crossed out the word 'two', replacing it with 'four'. The Orcs deserved as much credit as he gave them. He had fought those ruthless animals since he was a lad and knew what they were capable of. He would rather send in more men to lower the risk.

There came a soft knock on his door. 

"Come in," he muttered.

In entered a woman with a cup of herbal tea. Thinking she was merely a servant, he gestured for her to put the concoction down on his desk and be gone.

"Father, I need to speak with you."

"Jaina, what is it?" he did not lift his eyes off his work. "If it is about your alliance with the Orcs again, spare me."

"Father, I just need you to forgive me," she whispered. 

He ceased writing for a moment. A drop of ink slipped off the tip of his pen onto his work.

"It is late now," he stared remorsefully at the stain, sighed, and picked the paper up to fan it dry. "We'll talk in the morning."

"It is not too late to recall the troops," Jaina's voice was soft, filled with such sorrow that pierced his heart. "I know it is hard for you to accept after so many years of hatred and war between our nations, but now there is peace between us--and this peace did not come easy. Thrall promised not to trouble us any longer if you would not threaten his nation. Our people no longer have to die fighting them. Please, reconsider this."

"Bah!" he spat. "We have already gone through that. The warchief _promised_, you say? No, my dear. You are still young and innocent of the orcs and their ways. You give those beasts too much trust they do not deserve."

"You don't know Thrall," she argued, almost on impulse. "We have gone through hell together, he and I. I know I could trust him. You were not there to see it when..."

He slammed a fist on the table, silencing her, "So you know a lot about this _Thrall_ now? The truth is he _did_ send his men to war with us and he attacked my castle. His army murdered my people the same way any wretched brute would do. No, Jaina, you are wrong."

"Father, you must listen to me. We must try to make peace with the..."

"Don't say it! You had no idea what I have been through. I was worried sick for you when I heard Lordaeron fell. I prayed to the Stars for your safety. A rumour about you sailing away to Kalimdor was all that was needed for me to come to this strange land so far from home, in search of you. A rumour I didn't even know if it was true! I feared for you all the way here. You have no idea how I felt! Now you are alive, and I thank the Stars. I do not even want to reprimand you for your alliance with the Horde--_your betrayal_! And yet you think to cross another threshold and push me into accepting your orc friends?" 

"Father..." 

He was about to yell at her again, but he managed to regain control of his temper, "Go back to your room, Jaina. We'll talk in the morning."

"Please forgive me," tears flowed down her cheeks. 

He almost wanted to give her a hug, but his pride held him back, "Go back to your room. Goodnight." 

"_Goodbye_, Father."

And before he could say anything else, she was gone.

~*~ 

"One more thing, warchief. I found this on a human we killed last night. I can't read Human. It's gibberish to me."

The one called Rexxar handed Thrall a letter written in the human language. The warchief accepted it, read, and nodded his thanks to the Mok'Nathal warrior. His face betrayed no emotions, but Rexxar judged it had to be some bad news.

"It is their order of military," Thrall said quietly. "The army they were about to amass is huge. Fortunately, this fell into our hands instead." 

"This will not be the only message they sent out," Rexxar reminded him.

"True," the warchief muttered, "But at least we know how many we would be facing." He folded the letter and put it in his belt. 

The beastmaster shrugged. 

Thrall sighed. He said nothing, but Rexxar knew he must be thinking about the daughter of Daelin. He was torn between his duty and honour. The Spirits knew he wanted to put an end to the admiral for good, yet whenever he remembered Jaina's words and her grim face when she told him to 'do what he must', he felt like a villain. Albeit she was strong--not only in strength but in spirit as well, it must be hard enough to have just reunited with her father after years of separation only to part again eternally. 

Even so, Thrall was never hesitant about what he had to do. Though it dreaded him to cause Jaina more distress, he was still bound by his responsibility to his people. 

The admiral must fall, and it had to be this day. 

Rexxar looked over from the orcish base to the human city, still shrouded in shadows of the night. The dawning sun had yet to reach that part of the land. "A truly dark place this is," he muttered to himself. He felt no more at ease than the rest of the troops about entering human buildings, but he consoled himself with the thought that once they had the admiral killed, he would never have to go in again. 

A shaman came up to the two warriors and informed them that the forces were ready. Thrall acknowledged with a curt nod, "We are going in now."

~*~ 

"Orcs!" 

"Orcs in the citadel!"

"Protect the Admiral!"

Elite guards headed down the dimly lit hallway full speed. Servants and maids moved out of the way immediately to let them pass. On their faces there hung identical expressions of fear. They had expected a war to come about any time soon--but not as soon.

They passed Jaina's door, shouting as they marched.

"Guard Mistress Jaina," said the captain to three of his guards. "Stand here."

The mahogany door flung open, and the sorceress emerged from her room. She was already fully dressed--or perhaps she had not changed last night. 

"Mistress Jaina," one of the guards bowed at her. "The orcs are here. Please stay in your room. We will guard you with our lives."

"No," she shook her head and started down the corridor the opposite way. "I must see."

The captain quickly caught her by the arm, only to immediately back off when she glowered at him.

"Forgive my lack of manners, milady," he said, "But please do stay in your room. The Admiral would want you to be safe."

"Let her go wherever she wants," interrupted a third harsh voice as a robust warrior stepped forward from the shadows. The guards bowed at him--Jaina's elder brother Railen. He was almost a mirror image of his father in his youth, with the same striking blue eyes and dark long hair. To the guards, he commanded, "Do not concern yourselves with my sister. Her orc friends won't hurt her. Defend my father." 

Jaina glared at her brother angrily without saying a word. 

"Master Railen...Mistress Jaina, please," the captain looked from Railen's stone hard face to Jaina's pallid and flawless features. 

"You heard me, captain," Railen snarled. "There is no time to lose."

"Yes, master," the captain shooed his men away. 

Jaina turned to leave, but Railen did not let her, "Stand there, and don't feign innocence."

"I don't know what you are suggesting," Jaina went pale, but she managed to keep her voice from trembling.

"You do." Her brother mimicked her voice, "_There is a goblin shipyard on a nearby island. You could use their ships to scatter the blockade around Theramore Isle_. Father does know about that, and you broke his heart." 

With a strangled cry, she fled from the scene.

~*~ 

As the orcs charged into Daelin Proudmoore's chamber, he was ready. By the thunderous shouts of hate, he knew he was outnumbered, but he had his sacred hammer in hand. The orcs killed his men. They kept killing without mercy, without pause. But he would make his last stand.

A Mok'Nathal's axe cut through the neck of an elite guard and it came out tainted dark red. All Daelin could remember were the haunted eyes of his fallen soldier forever staring at him in confusion and pain. But even as the decapitated body slumped lifelessly to the floor, the half orc saluted him as he would salute someone he respected.

This was not the Horde the Admiral remembered. They were not barbarians who killed for the sake of bloodlust. They moved with purpose, with orderliness and a new kind of confidence he had never seen in Orcs before. For a split second, he felt as though he was fighting a platoon of well organized humans instead of something savage. 

He slammed his hammer into the side of the tauren chieftain, but his blow did little to impair the old warrior who swung his weapon fiercely back at him. The troll shadow hunter conjured up some spells of his and a glowing cobra emerged from the ground, spitting bright fire. He tried to concentrate on the battle, but he could not. He could feel the invisible pressure from a pair of blue eyes behind the dark velvet curtains, watching him, pitying him. He made no mistake. Those eyes were Jaina's. She did not come forth to help him. She just watched.

One of the orcish warriors seemed to sense her presence and raced forward with his weapon raised. Daelin tried to cry out a warning to his daughter, but he could not for his breath caught in his throat. An axe penetrated his armour from behind and entered his spine.

"No! Wait! It's me!" Jaina sidestepped out of the way.

"Jaina!"

Daelin had not expected the cry to be from the Mok'Nathal.

The grunt dropped his weapon in surprise and bowed at her apologetically. 

The sorceress lunged forward and caught Rexxar's axe-wielding hand, "Leave my father alone now. Leave now. You have done what you have to." Her blue eyes were wild and terrified and full of pity. She had watched her father mortally wounded by orcish hands. It was too much.

Abruptly, she twisted away from him and knelt wordlessly beside her fallen father. She heard the orcish troops cheer behind her. Victory was theirs, but she just wanted to be away from them all. She wanted to be with her father alone in his final moments.

Daelin had always known this to be his fate. 

Ever since he became the ruler of Kul Tiras and said his vows of service to his people, he had always known eternal hate for the orcs. He knew there could only be two outcomes to his fate. He would either be the king who liberated his people from Orcish threat, or he would die battling the foul beasts like a hero to be remembered and honoured by his people on his funeral pyre.

But not of the words of a half-orc!

"He was a great warrior. Remember him as such," the monstrous creature laid a calloused hand on his daughter's shoulder. His precious Jaina! The young woman did not flinch--any other woman of noble breed would have fainted dead away by then, but not Jaina.

She did not look at Rexxar. She could not bear to. It was too painful--or so Daelin hoped. But in her eyes there was comprehension. She understood the interest of the orcs, and she let them do what they must. Where was she when he battled the hundred orcs alone? She was there watching, not helping, and so had her warriors stayed their blades.

No...his heart bled in denial. He would rather his precious little Jaina be weak now, swoon dead away in his dying arms while he drew his last breath. But Jaina was too strong for that. He heard she fought and won the Demonlord Archimonde without his aid. She did not need his protection any longer. She thought she had grown up and understood everything. Let the world think she was a capable warrior. In his eyes she would always be a child who knew nothing. 

"Father," she touched his hair, matted with sweat and blood and looked at him with tearful eyes--but the tears never fell. "Why didn't you listen?"

He wanted to draw away from her. He wanted to remove her hand from him. But he had no strength left. The world was fading around him, into blasted colours and noises, and he could see that blissful white light crawling up against him, promising relief from his terrible, mortal pain.

...you listen... 

...listen...

...listen...

The last two words formed on his lips--the very last two, "...orc whore..." 

They were never voiced, but mouthed clearly enough for Jaina to understand. He did not know what her reactions were. Nor did he care. 

**J A/N**:

Lemme know if it's a good idea to write in only underpants...no. I didn't mean for you to know that. How do you feel about this story so far? I welcome criticisms cuz I'm not perfect (and don't worry about me taking revenge on your story, cuz I won't. Promise!), but I will ignore flames. As for **cumbersome clumsy unbelievably lengthy sentences like this**, OR**ungrammatical something typo are sentinsus like this**, if you think I have more than I am allowed to, you're absolutely welcomed to complain ^_^, and I will make alterations. Phew! 

I won't be following the canon story down to the last letter. I know Jaina's the youngest child of Daelin. How many more brother and sister Proudmoores are there, does anyone knows?! So far I will put Railen on the list, and probably another evil sibling O_o. And I can afford to give you a hint on the pairing. I usually like to pair the main character up with an unlikely individual (like in RG I did Sylvanas and Kael'thas). This time it will be **Jaina**x **mysterious-male-Warcraft-character-you-think-you-know-who-but-you-don't**. _'.


	2. Drifted

**LISTEN****- ****by J C****ae**_._****

"Aaay!" an orcish sailor stood up abruptly from his fishing canoe and pointed out at the horizon where the sun had just begun to rise. 

"What?" his colleague jumped. He almost fell out of the rocking little boat and had to grab hold onto the sides to steady himself. 

"Look! Out there!"

"Where?"

"The sea! Something's floating."

The second sailor stretched his neck and struggled to see, "See it. Just cloth." By the dim dawning light, all he could make out was a blurry patch of light blue fabric drifting with the waves. 

"No. It got a hand," the first sailor insisted, pointing again.

"You're still not awake," the second sailor started paddling away. "Let's move."

But the winds shifted suddenly, and the figure flowed towards the sailors. And they both gasped. Half drowned by the seas was an unconscious pink-skinned woman in her blue night dress, lifelessly clinging to a block of floating wood. She seemed to be slipping...and without warning she went underwater.

"I'll save her!" the first sailor removed his shirt, shoved it to his colleague, and dove into the water to pull the woman out. She did not seem to look particularly heavy, but she was completely limp and her clothes soaked. He had trouble moving her onto the boat. His friend tried to help by handing him an oar and heaved them both out of the water. At last, after some struggles, they were able to get the woman to safety. They laid her on the floor of the canoe, her eyes closed and her light auburn hair all over her pale face. 

"Breathing?"

"No..." the first sailor wiped sea water off his face as he examined the woman again, "No breathing."

"Dead?"

He nodded sadly and asked, "Ship wreck?" 

"I see no ship," his friend sighed. "We go back and report to warchief. Elf or human?"

He pushed the wet hair back and examined, "Ears not pointed. Human." 

Their conversation was interrupted by a gasp, and then rapid choking. The woman they rescued was still alive and began gagging water out of her lungs. The first sailor gently patted her back to help her. 

"You all right, human?"

She stopped choking and glanced at her two rescuers mutely for a few seconds, incomprehensively--and then her fair face was twisted in abject terror. The sailors thought she was going to scream and braced themselves for the noise. 

But it never came. 

The woman just sat there with the expression frozen on her face.

"We go back. We go back now."

**Chapter One: Drifted**

_ "We have to do this, Brysta," Railen turned his head to his second youngest sister, seated in the shadows as if she was some sort of dark queen. He could not see her face hidden under her black hood, the always impassive but shrewd. The only things on her that seemed to gleam were her eyes of blue--eyes that glittered with power and ambition. _

_ She shook her head, her clothes rustling softly at her movement, "My brother, had Father been alive, he would never approve of this."_

_ "Shhh!" he shook his head, quieting her as an elder brother would discipline a younger sister. "Father is dead, and it was his favourite daughter who betrayed him! Do you think I want to stain my hands with my sister's blood? My blood?"_

_ "Railen," Brysta smiled darkly. "You are always so impulsive, but you are about as good as an orc to even think of murdering your own kin. At times like these, brains are of more value than hasty acts."_

_ "You know as well as I do that she's trouble," he argued. "She'd do anything it takes to stop us from hunting the orcs. And I have no doubts about those rumours, that she's in love with that Orc Warchief."_

_ "You are right, my brother," Brysta sighed impatiently. "But do not concern yourself with this matter, especially when it is something you cannot hope to understand."_

_ "Damn it, Brysta! I am your elder brother, and I am your Admiral now!" he lost his temper. "Don't you dare treat me like some child!"_

_ "Then, stop behaving like one," was the cold reply as the black-clad figure readied a spell of teleportation. "Leave this to me, Railen. If you would **please** not intervene, all will be well." And she vanished from sight. _

~*~

Her eyes were blue. 

Thrall sighed as he crouched beside the witchdoctors who were tending to the floater the sailors found earlier. So far, she had been lying there on a mattress, neither awake nor asleep. She was now breathing without difficulty, and her eyes blinked from time to time. Yet she was totally unresponsive to loud sounds around her. She did not flinch when a healer banged a spoon against a bowl next to her ear. 

All right, she might be deaf. But the sailors who rescued her were certain she was not blind. She did look frightened when she saw her rescuers. 

Thrall wrote her a question in the human tongue, asking her to tell them who she was and what happened to her. He showed her the paper, and waved it in front of her eyes, but she just stared through it. It was not as if she was illiterate. She did not even see the paper. 

"How many days had she been drifting?" Thrall asked the healers, putting the note away. 

"She be there a couple days from the look of her skin," one of the witchdoctors replied. 

"I wonder how she got there," the warchief shook his head in incomprehension. "The sailors say the waves were not strong. She could not have gotten very far in a couple days. I ordered the fleet to scour the waters, but they could find no signs of ruined ships. But she can't just appear in the middle of the sea--"

"Warchief," a grunt lifted the tent flap and informed him. "Rokhan is here."

"Good," he nodded. "Send him in."

The troll shadow hunter entered. He was tall for a troll and had an unusually strong built. Beneath his war mask, there etched a permanent, cunning grin, though Thrall knew he was one of the few to whom he could give his complete trust. 

"You say, warchief, she cannot appear in the middle of the sea?" Rokhan picked up on the conversation Thrall was having with the witchdoctors. 

"No, she can't."

"She be tossed from a ship?" the troll suggested.

"You mean she was abandoned?" Thrall cast a look at the human woman. "But who would do such a thing? Who is she? Where does she belong to?"

The shadow hunter approached the bed where the floater laid and peered down at her carefully, examining her face from side to side, leaning so close he could have kissed her. Then, he looked back at Thrall with his famous grin, "Warchief, she be Jaina Proudmoore?"

Thrall stared at him with his jaw dropped. 

He took a few seconds to try and comprehend what Rokhan was getting at, but he dismissed the idea quickly, "No. It can't be Jaina. She isn't supposed to be deaf and blind." But even as he said it, the woman suddenly could not look more like the human leader. Even though most humans were more or less the same in his perspective, he knew he would have recognized Jaina even without her accessories or her staff. 

"She be magicked?" Rokhan suggested.

"Jaina is a strong sorceress herself. It's impossible to just enchant her," but he corrected himself quickly, "It would take an even stronger magic-user to hold her spellbound. And why do you propose that be the case?" 

"I don't know, but keep it in mind," the troll then asked, "You want me to take her to humans?"

"I do want you to investigate this," Thrall said quickly. "But it might be dangerous for you to go alone." He looked at the floater again uneasily, "I have not heard from Jaina for a while already after we retreated from Theramore Isle. I do not know what happened to the humans. Perhaps I should have sent them a message." He ordered ink and a piece of paper from the witchdoctors and started scribbling a letter, which he sealed magically and handed to the shadow hunter. "Here, take this. Give it to Jaina if she is still there, and to her only."

"Sweet."

"I'll send someone to go with you."

~*~ 

The afternoon sun was hot and sweat dripped from Rokhan's brow into his eyes. He wiped them away irritably with the back of his hand and pressed on deeper into the desert. He knew he had to get there by nightfall, or the journey would become a lot rougher and more perilous. 

He paused momentarily to check on the floater.

She was walking steadily, following him closely without seeming to know what she was doing. The road was tough and the sun was high, but she was not even sweating. Her eyes were still staring forward, her expression of confusion fixed as she moved as in her trance.

Earlier, a band of quillboars intended to take their treasures. Rokhan knew she would prove to be easy target, and shoved her behind some large boulders to hide her sight while he battled them alone. She laid there behind the rocks, as still as a statue, oblivious to the terror that might come over her had the shadow hunter lost. But he managed to drive them off. She was soon back on her feet again, and she walked as though nothing had ever happened. 

They walked over a sandy ridge, and Rokhan judged that they would soon reach their destination when...

"Uh-oh!"

A huge shadow lunged at him, knocking him over and he felt himself rolling back down the dune. He tried to wrestle the creature that came tumbling with him, but it was too strong, too zealous. It opened its strong jaw, and he writhed, trying his futile best to move away as the pink tongue...licked his face, sending puddles of saliva over him.

"Misha!" Rexxar yelled, and the bear obediently got off the shadow hunter and returned to its master's side. 

"Some beastmaster be you to have your pet run around!" Rokhan complained, wiping his face in disgust. 

"Misha's just pleased to see you," Rexxar smiled to himself as he approached the troll, holding out a gloved hand to help him up from the ground. After the death of Admiral Proudmoore and his work was done, the Mok'Nathal retreated back to nature to resume his life as a wanderer. He, however, had never gone too far from the City of Orgrimmar, in case should the Orcs have need of him again. 

He switched the subject, "What does the Warchief have for me?"

Rokhan sighed, and started back up the ridge where the floater was still standing, looking at a distance. He gestured, "This."

Rexxar squinted, "Something's wrong with her."

"This be Jaina Proudmoore, don't you think?" Rokhan asked.

The Mok'Nathal had a good look at the woman, hesitated, and then shook his head, "If this is Jaina, then I am a quillboar." Rexxar did not have a high opinion of the quillboar rogues that roamed freely about the land and disrupted the peace. 

"Then you be a quillboar," Rokhan then went on to explain how the sailors found the woman drifting in the sea. He told him how Thrall reacted when he expressed that this floater resembled Jaina. 

Rexxar sighed and waved his hand in front of the woman who did nothing. Not even blink when he suddenly brought his hand close.

"A boring girl," Rokhan teased. 

Misha grunted and nudged the woman with its nose. The beastmaster patted it on the side to keep it from turning her into afternoon tea. 

"At least Misha finds her interesting," the troll added quickly. 

"I just don't understand," Rexxar ignored his sarcastic comment, as he always did when they were in more serious matters. "If this is really Jaina, who would want to spellbound her and dump her in the middle of the sea? Why don't they just kill her instead and save the trouble?" 

The shadow hunter shrugged.

Rexxar mirrored his gesture, "I think we should take the woman to Theramore Isle. Only the humans can confirm whether our fears are real. You go on and deliver the letter and find out if Jaina is there. I will look for more clues."

"And if this be she?"

"We will be in trouble anyway."

~*~

Rokhan put the four of them into human ships they commandeered from the human base and set sail to Theramore Isle. He chose a quiet beach to dock the ship and hoped that they could enter Jaina's citadel without being discovered. Rexxar was the first to get out of the boat, glad that he could breathe fresh air again. 

"You be better than last time," Rokhan noted. Rexxar had been hiding on the lowest deck of the boat, clinging onto the side of the ship for dear life. The troll knew from experience that the Mok'Nathal was a wanderer of the land and not the sea, and he had a good laugh about that.

"Nothing's wrong with me," Rexxar shook his head, refusing to admit though his face was pale and he was still fighting the nausea. "I was merely tense last time." He avoided any further conversation, and looked around him. Beside him, Misha sniffed the ground. 

There was a forest ahead of them. According to the map they obtained from Jaina earlier, they could take a shortcut through the woods to her citadel. 

"There could be forest patrols," Rexxar said to his companion who just wrapped the floater up with a black cloak around her tattered night dress he found on the ship. It was apparently a man's cloak and was too large for her. But at least it would not capture as much attention. 

"We be ready to fight," Rokhan checked his weapons.

"Didn't you find two sets of human foot soldier uniform on the ship?" the Mok'Nathal asked. "We could put ourselves in disguise."

"I doubt the uniform would fit you," the troll remarked.

"Try to sound helpful, all right?"

The shadow hunter grinned, "Don't worry be happy? You used to get annoyed when I say that." 

But despite his pessimistic comment, Rokhan was correct. Rexxar could barely manage to fit his well-built form into the human's armour, but the way he moved about, his confident strides would betray him. Rokhan did an even poorer job at the disguise. He could not hide his blue tinted skin and had to cover himself up with another cloak instead.

"If we run into any guards," Rexxar suggested, "I will do the talking." He was more fluent in the common tongue, and with that troll accent of Rokhan's, they would undoubtedly give out their identities.

Once they were in the forest, Rexxar felt so much more at ease. He found his way through the forest almost with no difficulty at all. But at the sight of the high castle walls, he swallowed hard. Perhaps he was being too optimistic last time about not having to enter any more human buildings. 

This time, he would be entering in disguise as well--he had never even been with a human before. If they discovered him, he knew he was going to have a long day.

He crouched beside Misha and spoke softly to it. He would have to leave it behind in the forest, but he made sure that it would come to his aid if need be. 

With a deep breath, he shot a look at Rokhan who returned a nod. They were ready to walk into the human city. 

~*~

**J A/N**: 

Wrote this in an hour. I really gotta go pack up. _Advancing too quickly?_ Yes. _Bad chapter_? Hope not. 

PLEASE gimme another week for the next chapter?! I'll be going back to my dorm, and I won't have internet connection until Monday (I mean I have to go to the library for internet cuz my dorm room doesn't have it. Doesn't it just suck?), and oh, school will start, and I'll have ten thousand things to do like paying tuition and rent etc... 

You all hate me, and I know it. I've opened up a lot of possibilities for the Jaina pairing and even that funny troll shadow hunter seems to be on the list too ^_^. But there will only be one true destiny for her, and he's not gonna get away. 

Btw, I really don't like writing the troll dialect. Guess that's the reason Rokhan was as silent as the grave in the orc campaigns. But I'll be nice and give him a personality. 

**Tyraa Rane**: HEyyyyy! Long time since I talked to you ^_^. I really like your story too. Thanks for your compliments. 'Go back to your room' stuff? That's from first-hand experiences O_o. But it's actually a punishment I really like, cuz I can sit on my bed and read until my parents come let me out of my room ^_^. I stopped loving Thrall after Act 1--God he's so boring! Sitting there doing nothing and let Rexxar and Rokhan run errands for him! That's so sad considering I was once an avid Thrall fangirl *sigh*. Now I still like him, but he's been dropped from my favourite character list. Guess it's we fanfic writer's job to 'unbore' him. 

*~*

**Rowan Seven**: 

(Scene: in the desert at midnight, under a cactus by a bonfire oh so warm, Chen and Jaina both sits huddled in thick blankets)

CHEN: *hands Jaina a mug of something* 

JAINA: Huh? 

CHEN: Try this.

JAINA: *doubtfully* It smells funny. 

CHEN: Drink it up! Drink it up!

JAINA: *holds nose and drinks the thing* 

CHEN: *watches with baited breath*

JAINA: *chokes* What *chokes* is that awful... 

CHEN: Another round? 

JAINA: *faints*

CHEN: Drunk so fast, aren't ya?

_Conclusion_: No!! *jams the tape* I shall not give out pairing!! 

Thanks for the family background. The problem with Warcraft is that they add new stuff without warning. They should have called me (just kidding)!! I'll look at Alliance and Horde Compendium if I have the chance...I'll make corrections and turn Railen into the third last kid or something. Daelin 'mingled' with an elf and hid his half-elven daughter?? Ah my creativity!! Never thought he was such a...messed-up guy. But infidel persons are more fun to write *sigh*. Anyways, I have another idea about the other evil sibling... 

*~*

**Jackal2332**: Thanks. Yeah, sure is short. I mean, you get to fight a lot, but you don't get to accomplish a lot of things, and that's the problem. 

*~*

**Dargon**: Proudmoore men are stupid. Agreed ^_^. Runs in the family, so they say. Mwahaha. Everyone seems interested in who Jaina's gonna be with in the end. *smiles evilly* Actually, I know but I'm not telling anyone.

*~*

**Ira Poon**: I was kinda hoping Daelin's last words would have some unexpected effects...

*~*

**madpostman**: Naw, AxJ never works. I'm glad someone thinks so too. I'm not going to cross out anyone cuz I already know who Jaina will be paired to. *laughs hysterically* Mwahaha.

*~*

**inaam07**: Thanks for reading^_^.

*~*

**!doom!**: If you were Jaina, the world would have been a lot more angry *snickers* just kidding. Really, just kidding. Thanks anyways. 

*~*

**tru7h @nd 0rd3r**: Sometimes, it's impossible for parents to change their perspective. My mom flipped out when I told her I was gonna go out with a man of a different ethnicity, no offence to people of different ethnicities. *sigh* 

*~*


	3. Missed

**LISTEN****- ****by J Cae**_._****

**_A/N: _****YUP, THE NEW CHAPTER IS FINALLY UP!!!__**

Hacker1: Hey dude. See that computer over there? Wanna give it a shot? It'll be fun.

Hacter2: This girl here is boring. Her computer doesn't have firewall or anti-virus programs. It's way TOO easy to hack into her system.

Hacker1: Still, it is our devil-given right to make everyone's life hard as hell, right?! 

Hacker2: Right. Let's see. J Cae's the owner. Some fanfic writer. We don't need her crappy writing, but we'll delete her school papers. 

Hacker1: And now her system restarts on its own after every 15 minutes.

Hacker2: Mwahahaha. Her combo drive will now keep on opening by itself.

Hacker1: Oops, her combo drive is fried. She can't back-up her files, nor reboot the system either. 

Hacker2: Mwahaha. Now she won't be able to do anything on her computer, unless she gets someone to fix it for her. Anyhow she'll have a real hard life. Hey, you're right, dude. It is fun. 

Hacker1: She'll get all those anti-virus things to entertain us...and next time, we'll be back with a vengeance.

~~~~~~~

_Yo__. I apologize for not updating since forever. Blame it on those SOBs who put a virus into my computer (if you've read my **RANGER GENERAL **update 2 weeks ago, that was ONLY the first time someone hacked my OS) and then killed my combo drive (now that's the second time). It's really murderously painful (and emotionally taxing as well) to get the computer unscrewed. So PLEASE condemn hackers, and don't be one of them. Thank you. And here's your chapter. _

~~~~~~

**Chapter Two: Missed**

Human city...to walk into a cage...

Rexxar sighed. Sometimes he had to do what he had to do--and this happened to be one of those moments. Pulling the uncomfortable visor over his face, he started down the streets. For whatever reason, the pebbled floor seemed slippery to walk ion in those uncomfortable human boots--he wondered why their soles were made of metal. He was used to walking in his soft doe boots which allowed him to use his toes to grip the ground. Now he could only move slowly and cautiously to avoid stumbling and making a fool out of himself. He frowned at the awkward 'thud thud' that was loud enough to deafen the sleeping moles underground whenever his shoes came into contact with the floor.

Behind him, Rokhan shuffled gracelessly through the small rocks, occasionally tripping. He covered himself up nicely with a cloak, and Rexxar told him to hunch over and pretend to be a stooped old man so that he would not have to look up at anyone and give out his heritage. The troll pretended to cling onto the female floater for support, when actually he was trying to keep her in sight and out of trouble. She followed, wordlessly, showing no recognition or awareness of any sort.

Rexxar tensed as he heard the noise of rumbling wagons. He beckoned to the shadow hunter, and they moved themselves into a dark alley. 

A few of the men were transporting large barrels towards the castle. The captain in charge paused to shout a few commands to his men, and then the wagons rolled on forward.

"Gunpowder," Rokhan breathed when the wagons were out of sight. "What be done with it?"

"Let us just get the girl home and be gone from here," Rexxar replied. He guessed the troll was more familiar with humans and their ways. He was well aware of what a few wagons of gunpowder might mean--there was a possibility the humans were readying themselves for war.

The shadow hunter agreed with him. Nudging the woman's arm gently, he managed to get her to walk again--but not for long.

"Hey you! Stop!"

They both tensed. Rokhan pulled the hood lower over his head and urged the woman to move. Rexxar cursed under his breath. They must have missed the rear guards. 

Two human soldiers approached the Mok'Nathal and started to say something to him. They did not, however, happen to notice that Rokhan and the floater was with him. 

The troll pulled the woman to a side and avoided looking directly at the humans.

"Why are you here? This area is off limits to a third-ranked private such as yourself!" the humans questioned the beastmaster.

"Apologies, I didn't know that," Rexxar's tone was calm, but he was already pondering over what he should do next. It would be easy for him to knock down these two officers, but not while he was in the city centre where some other guards were bound to catch him. He remembered the letter Thrall intended to give Jaina. He was glad Rokhan gave it to him beforehand. "There is urgent news I must deliver to the castle, to Miss Proudmoore."

"From whom and for what purpose?"

"I am a third-ranked private, as you say, good sirs," he shrugged. "Naturally Captain...Smith would not have to explain anything to me." He waved the letter at them and hoped they did not see the Warchief's seal at the back.

One of the guards said, "Give that to us, and we will take it to the castle."

Rexxar was not worried about them trying to check the letter out--Thrall had it magically sealed and only Jaina could open it with her sorcery. But he was worried about his own safety, and also about those who came with him, "But I was instructed to give it to no one but Miss Proudmoore."

"Which Miss Proudmoore?"

The more he spoke, he realized, the more he was going to give away. He cast a worried look at Rokhan, who, in order to avoid drawing attention to himself, had sat down on the sidewalk opposite the woman, pretending to be in some deep conversation with her. He never looked at the Mok'Nathal, but Rexxar knew he was listening, looking for a chance to help. 

"Jaina Proudmoore."

The guards exchanged looks, and decided to let him pass. Rexxar breathed a sigh of relief and resumed his strides down the street.

After a while, Rokhan caught up with him.

"That be close," the troll remarked with a hint of relief.

"That might be," Rexxar shook his head. "But we still have to figure out a way to get into Jaina's citadel."

Their gazes were drawn to the huge premise that stood ahead of them. 

"We should just walk in there and act normal," the beastmaster swallowed hard. "If Jaina's still in there, she will let us in. If not..." He did not continue. The quest he had undertaken was a perilous one. 

"Don't worry, be happy," the troll chimed as he headed towards the castle.

~*~

_We would never make it out of here alive_, was Rexxar's thoughts as he followed Rokhan into the castle. His jingling armour almost immediately attracted the guards' attention. They demanded what their purpose was and made them show their faces--a Mok'Nathal and a Troll! But as someone pulled off the woman's hood, they gasped and started discussing among themselves.

Rexxar did not like the uniform look of surprise on the guards, or the soft whispers exchanged among them. He did not like the weapons pressed against his neck. But he managed to show them Thrall's letter and explain that he meant the humans no harm. Recognizing the orcish seal, two of the guards took the letter and went away, but the rest of them were no friendlier to the unwelcomed guests.

And the beastmaster began to wonder even more what was going on. If Jaina was in the castle, then who was this woman floater? If she was not, why were the guards behaving in such a way? 

He managed to get Rokhan's attention. "Unless we see Jaina," he said in the orcish tongue. "Don't give the woman up to them."

The troll nodded and wrapped his slender fingers around the woman's arm.

"No talking!" the human guards yelled, and Rexxar and Rokhan did not talk again until they were escorted into the guestroom.

Although Rexxar tried to keep his emotions in check, he could not but gasp as Jaina Proudmoore stood from the chair behind her desk to greet him. "Half-ogre, what is the meaning of this?" she did not snarl at him or even frown, but the displeasure in her voice was obvious enough, "You are in the uniform of our ranks."

Perhaps his eyes were playing tricks. Perhaps he was not familiar with human faces, but the two women in the room looked exactly like the other. It was not only family resemblance. It was as though they were mirror images, cookie-cutter clones.

But his ears and his instincts were definitely not idle. She called him half-ogre and not by name. 

"Jaina Proudmoore," he tried to keep his composure, "I hope you understand that we have gone through that trouble to deliver an urgent message from Warchief Thrall." One of the guards who confiscated the letter presented it to Jaina.

She took it from his hands and returned to her seat. She did not open the seal. Instead, she placed it on her desk alongside her other paperwork.

"You must read it," Rexxar insisted. "Whatever it conveyed would be urgent."

"When I have time," she replied with a hint of cold anger. Hugging her lilac sorceress's robes tighter to her body, she picked up her quill pen and spellbooks to continue her studies. "And if you are done, would you please quickly make yourselves scarce? My brother the Admiral would not approve of you, and there is nothing I can do to keep you safe."

Rexxar took a bold step forward, knowing she was probably right. But he would dare his life. She could order her guards to seize and kill him. She could probably do so too herself. But he would say what he had to say, "If you still intend to keep the Horde as your ally, you had better read the letter now."

"The Horde is no longer an ally to me or to the humans!" Her eyes widened in rage, "Your Warchief tricked me into betraying my father, half-ogre. His interest was never in restoring peace between us. Thrall merely acted in favour of the Orcs."

His blood grew cold, "That is not true, Jaina..."

She threw her pen at him and cursed under her breath when he just managed to avoid it, "And now with my father dead, my brother Railen Proudmoore has become the Admiral and took over the control of everything else--and I have become his prisoner. Go now, and tell your Warchief it is useless to write to me now. There is no favour I can, nor will, do for him."

The wrath in her voice was so great, he did not think it was even possible in her--and yet being thrown into such a devastating situation..."No," he shook his head, "You knew what you were doing. You wanted to work towards peace between our nations. You defended us from your father, even though we have not asked you to. Your brother has poisoned you against us."

"And what of you? Am I to you a dim-witted child who could be easily swayed by a few words of denial? Get out of my sight now!"

"Jaina, look," Rokhan remembered his duty and gently pushed the female floater in front of him.

"Rokhan, don't!" Rexxar tried to warn him, but it was too late.

Jaina Proudmoore looked into her own face and cried out in shock. 

And suddenly, there was an outburst of darkness. Rexxar thought he heard a woman's voice chanting arcane words and a dark figure moving in front of him, but he could not be sure. He thought he yelled for Rokhan to hold onto the floater, but he could not remember if he actually did it. 

It was all so confusing...

~*~

_ "Brysta! Are you all right?" _

_ The dark sorceress opened her eyes to light and chaos and saw her brother bending over her, shaking her gently to wake her from her trance. She removed his hands from her shoulders and tried to stand up from the floor without his aid, but dizziness threatened to take hold of her, and he caught her in his arms before she fell over._

_ "Did it work?"_

_ That sounded more like the Railen she knew. He might be concerned about her, but he was definitely more worried about whether she succeeded. _

_ She took her time and straightened her black robes, making sure that each fold fell in the right place. Then, she combed her fingers through her shoulder-length auburn hair, refusing to answer his question._

_ "Brysta, did it work?" he repeated impatiently. ___

_ Still tousling her hair, she half turned and muttered, "Did you think I would have tried it if it wouldn't work?"_

_ He sighed in relief. _

_ But Brysta did not share his perspective, "Jaina has grown powerful as a result of her intensive training with the __Kirin__ Tor. Soon enough, if she manages to survive, she would find a way to break that spell. And I would not be able to overpower her then."_

_ "Then, what can we do?" he tensed. If Brysta could not take care of their little sorceress, he did not know who else he could count on._

_ "What can we do?" she mimicked his anxious tone. "Why are you asking me? You are the Admiral." _

~*~

Rexxar woke to find himself lying with his face buried in sand. Rolling over onto his back, he started gasping for air and choked. The afternoon sun burnt his skin, and the heat was almost unbearable. He looked around--his eyes widened to find himself on a small island surrounded by soft white sand. 

Where was he?

Beside him, Rokhan was still lying unconscious, mumbling unintelligibly under his breath. He remembered how the troll disliked being exposed to the sun--but apparently Rokhan was in no shape to care. The Mok'Nathal pulled the hood of the borrowed cloak over the troll's face. A little further from the men laid Jaina in her lilac sorceress's robe. The floater was nowhere to be seen.

And the seas floated around the small desert island on which the three of them were marooned.

Rexxar walked over to the woman and shook her gently. If she was Jaina Proudmoore, and if she could still wake up, she could probably teleport them somewhere. 

She groaned softly at his touch, but did not wake.

"Jaina!" he called her name louder, to no avail.

He sighed.

Though it was hard to accept, he, the Mok'Nathal wanderer, was stranded on an island he did not know. He had trained himself to survive in the wilderness, away from civilization, but never could he have thought he would have ended up on an atoll with no food or supplies. 

He had to get away from there.

No. First, he had to get back to Theramore Isles. Poor Misha, he supposed, was still in the forest, waiting for him to return. She would probably not be in any danger, since humans were smart enough not to try and cross a fierce bear. 

The ends of his hair pricked up suddenly as something furry brushed past his arm. He picked up a black hairy spider between his thumb and index fingers, and before he could study it, he felt a sharp pain shot from his fingertips. He tried to get the little animal off him, but a needle was jabbed into his skin and would not come out. Cursing out loud, he killed the wriggling spider that dangled from his wound and slowly removed the needle. It did not appear to be poisonous, fortunately. 

Sighing to himself, he looked out at the horizon. He was indeed thrown into an adverse situation. How was he to get off the island and back to where he was familiar with? Swim away? There was no land visible ahead. He could probably tell east from wets by the position of the sun or the stars, but how was he to ever find the direction to the human bastion if he did not even know where he was?

But a scream pierced through the sound of waves breaking upon the shores, straight into his troubled mind. He spun around to find poor Jaina flailing and trying to wrestle with her robes. Her blue eyes were wide with fright.

"Jaina?" 

"Get this thing off me!" 

A black spider--much like the one Rexxar killed was crawling across her chest. 

"Stop thrashing. I'll catch it," he tried to calm her. "It's just a spider." 

He never did understand, but he once saw a few human women scream and run about at the sight of a spider. Perhaps spiders were to them some symbol of unholy spirit? Else there was no reason he could think of that one need fear such a small hapless thing. 

Though of course, the giant cannibal spiders corrupted by demon-bile was a different story altogether. 

He certainly did not mean to touch Jaina on her chest--Mok'Nathals do not touch women other than their wives. But he had to. She trembled, but did not move away from him, but already, he could see, she was biting her lower lip and trying hard not to show her distress. His hands lingered on her no longer than necessary--he caught the spider in his palm carefully and then set it free.

Jaina turned her head away without thanking him, her face flushed in embarrassment. He moved to Rokhan's side and checked on the troll again, pretending not to notice her reaction, but who could decide what to think?

After long awkward moments of silence, Jaina broke the ice, "Rexxar, what happened? Where are we?"

"I don't have answers to either of those questions," the Mok'Nathal shrugged. "But I was hoping you could teleport us back to Theramore. Are you well enough?"

"Theramore?" her eyes widened in alarm, "Why Theramore? My brother would have you killed if he found you there."

Rexxar explained he left Misha in the woods, but did not want to go too much into details.

"I certainly have no intention to go back there," she confessed quietly, more to herself than to anyone.

"What really happened?" Rexxar pressed. "I think there's a lot to be explained, Jaina. Your brother Railen became Admiral and held you captive. What next?"

He was interrupted by a groan from the troll. Jaina's attention turned to the waking Rokhan immediately, "Rokhan...The woman? Where is she?"

"Who was she, Jaina?" Rexxar demanded. "I swear she looks just like you."

"I think so too," the human sorceress admitted. Usually, when other people said her sisters looked like her, she would dismiss the idea. But the floater that Rokhan brought definitely did resemble her. "But it is just not possible."

"Do you have a twin?"

"Not that I know of," Jaina shook her head. "Where did you find her? Tell..."

But her voice trailed off suddenly and her jaw dropped open. He was confused, but she pointed behind him. He turned his head and cursed out loud.

"Rokhan! Get up now!" he dragged the troll up to his feet. "Come on. Get up now!"

There from under the sand came a million black hairy spiders. 

*~*~*~* 

**J A/N**: 

Ooh. Cliff hanger there ^_^.

I don't fear spiders. Really. Or I wouldn't have survived living in a dorm where you literally hit spiders hanging from the ceiling when you walk down the hallway. There are spiders in my room as well, spiders on my alarm clock (I pressed on one of them one time when my alarm went off...jeez, if that spider can hear, it should be deafened), on toilet paper (check before use...), and of course, in my bed as well (it's not a pleasant feeling to have something crawl over you while you're sleeping¡Xeven though I didn't wake up screaming like Jaina). 

I won't leave teasers for this story...cuz I have no idea what I'm gonna write next--the good and bad about not having a plan. I love you guys for reading and all your wild ideas about the pairing. Had a really good laugh. 

**DemonGod86**: I'm glad Brysta seems scary enough, at least for now. I don't know. Considering she could teleport and do magic stuff, she should be an archmage. But she's kinda dark for a normal archmage, so she could be a new unit, I suppose?!

*~*~*

**Tyraa**** Rane**: Thanks. Yeah, I was kinda hurrying to finish the chapter before I leave the US. Haha, Rokhan's characterization...truth is, no one knows what he's supposed to be like! LotR orcs are yuck, and compared to them, I definitely agree that Thrall, and even Grom is so much cuter!! As for Chen and Jaina, thank Rowan Seven for inducing my creativity. Nasty, wasn't it? Hey, you got a new story, and it's about Jaina too!!

*~*~*

**Ira Poon**: You're lucky to have more open-minded parents. It's so annoying sometimes when you can't get them to LISTEN to reason for once in their lives...ugh. I really did it. I shouted the title of my fic!! Brysta is definitely more evil than Railen. I always find a dark and secret villain who is actually in control of the situation more fun to write.

*~*~*

**inaam07**: I'm sure Daelin didn't care whether or not Jaina and Thrall were together. He was just so hurt and mad at her for betraying him. 

*~*~*

**Anouymous**: Oh thanks for pointing that out. A scimitar...really? *shrug* Didn't bother to go through the campaigns again. Maybe I'm just getting old and lazy and impatient, whatever... 

*~*~*

**madpostman**: Yeah, I know the story sort of advanced quickly cuz I was rushing (ha!) to pack my suitcases O_o. Jaina's one of my favourite characters too, after Sylvanas and Kael ^_^--which means I am going to let a lot of things happen to her...But no guaranteeing what's gonna happen yet cuz I change my mind every 2 minutes. 

*~*~*

**Cybaster****: **Thank you ^_^. Thrall has just as about much chances as all the other men in Warcraft to win Jaina's heart, but with the exception of Arthas who will have the least chance even if he tries hard (oops, did I just say something?!). But hey definitely I'd still root for Raynor x Kerrigan if SC2 comes out, ever...I dunno. I don't like Arthas, but I'm still cool with Kerrigan though they're about as nasty as each other. (When Mengsk that bast*rd betrayed her, I was like shaking the monitor and yelling NOOOOOO, GO SAVE HER, JIMMY MAN!! But didn't have that feeling when Arthas took up Frosty..."Nooo. Save him, Muradin man"...naw). Chen...in Diablo 2. Right. Oh don't worry about him. He'd be having a great time getting drunk on demon brew. 

*~*~* 

**Kamislash**: Yup. Thanks for your information. In fact, Rowan told me the eldest son of Daelin was killed too. I am going to change that when/if/until get over this lazy 'don't-care' syndrome of mine...*sigh*

*~*~*

**Dark Elk**: Why thank you. Well, I'm so glad you're interested in this story as well. Oh, I'm sure you can write good War stories. At least I liked Drumbeat. Oh right. I owe you teasers...sorry. 

*~*~*

**TWH**: Thanks for your comments ^_^. Well, roger that and I'll stop suggesting pairings in my notes. Of course, romance isn't my usual line of work (checks my list of stories). Okay, maybe it is. But I don't usually like to put the focus on it. See I never read pure romance (checks my favourite fanfic list). Oh hey, I do. Ah well. I can't tell you to not worry, cuz I have the tendency to change my mind every 2 minutes, but rest assured that the story's main focus is *phew* on the tension between humans and orcs. I can tell you, too, that I enjoy writing the blood and gut fighting scenes more than anything ^_^. 

*~*~*

**Darth**: Um...I shall say nothing...thanks anyway.

*~*~*

**Slinky Avenger**: You mean T for Tichondrius ^_^?! Thanks for reading.


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